Illumination of explosive chambers



A. B. WINTERS ILLUMINATION 0F EXPLOSIVE CHAMBERS Sept. 14, 1943.

'Filed Aug. 21., 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VEN TOR.

Sept. 1943- A. B. WINTERS 2,329,501 ILLUMINATION 0F EXPLOS-IVE CHAMBERS Filed Aug. 21, 1342 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 11-3. Wan z ens mwm ; ATrMA/Er Sept-14,1943 l v A. B. WI NTERS h 2,329,501

ILLUMINATION 0F EXPLOSIvE CHAMBERS Filed Aug. 21, 1942 "5' Sheets-Sheet 4 1. ii P l/in Zara,

Sept. A. B. wm-rsRs v 2,329,501

ILLUMINATION OF EXPLOS IVE CHAMBERS- Filed Aug. 21, 1942' 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Afi- Wz'n iers,

Patented Sept. 14, 1943 I ILLUMINATION oF' ExrLos E'onA BERs AlvaB. Winters, Evanston, Ill, assignor to Bevere Electric lllanufachiring' Company, Chicago, Ill.

I Application August'Z I, 1942,- Serial Nagasaki-68 ,6 Claims;

'The invention relates to means for illuminating structures in the natureof enclosures where it is not practicable or is unsafe'to install electrical wiring or other electrical devices'or other conventional illuminating devices, and while especially applicable to the illumination of chambers in which explosives are to berestored, may also be used for'the illumination of other structures where similar requirements of safety or expediency are involved;

The device is specifically adapted to use in (c1'; 2 it 2) l N attainJthe necessary high efiiciency of illumination within the structure under the limitations the illumination of interiors :of what areknown as igloos, which are subterranean chambers used for the'storage 'of'high explosives. For

safety of the contents, from accessin various ways, and particularly for safety from observation from the exterior, these' structures are formed with a minimum of openings, and with out any equipment or structural features'involv ing possible elements of fire, sparks',and shock as well as a minimum of light. In consequence,

they are constructed ordinarily as a 'large' room or masonry concrete, with a single openin s through which men may enter to carry vpackages of the explosive in moderate'quantities'; Itis a general rule that no electrical circuits are per mitted within'these structures; nor within a given distance of the access opening to the before-stated. i l

A furthernimportanti object 'of the invention,

in one form thereof, is the provision of lighting fixtures which are of a portable or demountable character, permitting the use of the apparatus on different" iglo'osfas occasion demands, thus eliminating the use of a particular set of fixtures for each igloo. r ,1

Additionalobjects, advantages and features of the invention reside in'the construction, ar-:

rangement and combination ofparts'involved in the embodiment, of i the invention, as will be more readily-understood from the following descripticn'and accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1 is a plan View of an igloo structure,

' railway siding and fbox canin; loading? position, with my invention installed and incorporated.

' Figure 2 is'a front elevation thereof, with the boxcar remove i 'w r Figure 3 15 a longitudinal sectional view of the igloo showing the installation-,ofmy invenchamber. In addition to this requirement, v

which must be met by my inventiomrthere' is the further fact that-explosives taken in or taken from these structuresare; handled in very large quantities, requiring the 2 use of railway cars; trucks andth'e like; and it is a practice to have a railway track or drive wayolocatedi exteriorly of the structure and extending across a: line normal to the entrance" opening, so'zthat a car of conventional constructionmay be drawn upv veryclose to theopenin with 'the; sidedoors of thecar open immediately adjacentthe opening of the; igloo, so that packages of "explosives, may be transferred to andfrgm-the igloo and car-by usual stevedoreoperations, I

It is therefore an; im rtantj objectand at:

complishment of my invention ;to provide means .by which the interior.ofaniglodmaybe illumiated fromf alight source located at-a distance from said openings, eiiteriorly of the igloo, while a boxcar isdrawn up-ihnontof the opening and. without interruption" tojthe illumination within the igloo .b'yf the passage of men and hand truck's .orth'e like through the opening.- {Ql aimof' the invenf It is. a further important 'tion'to present novel'cohstruction in meansifor 'refracting and reflecting light in a manner to tion and itsfunctional operation;

Figure lis aperspective View of theinterior of the igloo from near theentr'ance, y s

Figure?) is a horizontal section of thefront end of the igloo, showing the lighting apparatus.

inplan,

Figure '6 is a detail elevation of the inner v right hand sidecf the entrance opening of the'igloo,

showing my interceptor unit and its mounting,

enlarged, a t Figure 7 is a plan View of the latt'er,

V Figure 8 is an elevation from the left of Fig Figure 9 is an enlarged elevation of the-inner side of theint'erceptor unit, showing-the refactor lens in elevation, partly broken away to show Figure 15 is a horizontalcross section through a modified form of iglooembodying a further means of illuminating the interior' thereof, f Figure ldisia fragmentary vertical .crosssection thereof.-

door ll hinged at one side thereof and adapted to be swung ibaokwardly against theouter face of the front wall 15, Customarily, the side walls 12 and roof M are formed integrally in one piece, as a simple arch, as indicated in Figure 4.

In front of the door, and spaced a distance from the front wall parallel to the latter, there is a railway track I8, on which a box car i=9 is shown in Figure 1, the details ofconstructi'on of such cars being well known and therefore not illustrated in detail herein, as it iswell known that they include large side openings, and the car is drawn up with such opening alined with the doorway 18. Ordinarily, thetnackway-is located ata ,levelmuch belowlthetoplevelxof the floor il 1;, and the loading platform 29' is extended at a common levelfwiithxth'e floor finomzthedoor openmg 118 to la point close. beside, thexcar 1:9, to 'facili-- tatekurrloading or loading of materials to :be stored or removed frormthe zchamben "Briefly, the invention comprises the use of a lamp 20 of conventional construction, adapted to project apowerfulbeam of lightyand located preferably removable, at :a distance of at 'least 20 feet from-:thenear side of the .doorlopening. 1-6 on La 'li-ne'nearly or quite parallel to the major plane of the opening; and spacedashort distance from-the ifiat wall surface-of thechamber structure; In practicein order to minimize obstruction of the beams: from the lamp, it is mounted [preferably at a height in the neighborhood of six or seven feet above the level of the floor I l, and is preferably soconstructed as to project a beam, the effective part of which has a maxi-mum divergenoeof --1 degrees for the specific embodiment herein disclosed? "-I-n. =the present instance,

a concrete wall-portion 'ZSis eX-tende'don each side of theig'looat its flat end, and forming a continuatiorio-f the 'front wall 15 of the chamber,

and the wall 23 -isutilized as a mounting for the lamp '20, although any other mounting may be employed, as found desirable. The lamp '20 is preferablydetachab'lyfconneoted with a suitable electrical source located at the wall 23, or such other support as may be utilized, in the location shown in Figures 1 and 2.

A refractingv interceptor device 24 is located immediately in front of the opening 16, and very .close to-the of the opening, constructed to intercept .a. major portion of the beam 25 m ject ed fromsthe lamipzflcas indicated i-n Figures 1 and 2 and to deflect intercepted; portions of the beam into the-chamber H! with certain characteristics as more definitely indicated. The interceptor 24' mounted: on supports at :the inner @side of ithechamber and arranged to be swungfrom within the chamber to a positicn exteriorly thereof, for operation. The mounting in the' priesent instance consists of a crane device; zfigihaivingiailower vertical rectilinear port-ion 213 m ounted revolubly intwo vertically spaced brackets 2"! and 28, thelatter being a sten-bea-ri ng receiving the lower end of the stem portion. Thumb-screws '2! are engaged through the sides of these brackets toiinpinge upon the stem portion 25, manuallyoperable t-o-"secure 2,329,501 yff the device in retracted inoperative position or in extended operable position.

The crane member is formed of one piece of pipe suitably bent, being curved suitably to a radius of 90 degrees above the upper bracket 21, as at 38 so as to extend horizontally a distance at its upper part, and is then curved in a horizontal direction over a radius of 90 degrees, as at 3i, so as to extend normally to the plane of the opening '16 and very close to the side of the side or jarnb 22 of the opening when the device is swung to an outer position; as illustrated in Figured the present instance, the extremity of the upper curved portion is extended in rectil-inear from 'a/d-istance, constituting an arm 32, the extremity ofwhich' stops closely adjacent the plane of the outer face of the wall 23 when the 'craneisin'fiheoutermost position. A pipe fitter sleeve 33 is engaged slidably on the extremity of the arm 32, having set screws 34 therein to engage the insertedportion ofg t-he and hold I structurejin the form: ofza rightttriangle in plan,

and 'rectanguiar in :its (three elevations, the hypotenuse 31:,v of: whicha-is provided with a mirror 3% which-servestasrthe reflecting means by a; substantial part of, the beamsxrrom the. light- Muis intercepted and. deflecting inwardlythroughitheopening Ii. .wEIhe bracket 38 .is secured tdthecarffiii by mean'scif a suitable heavy. pivot: bolt; and the lower part of the boxirm *offthe'interceptorxat the lower part. beneath-thevhnacket ifi hasengagedtpivotally there- Lvithia diagonal stayaafl, which is extended n1p-- wardly and mwardlyits inner zextne'mity being longitudinally slottedi'and; receiving. therethrough a screw on the bracket piecedlizfixed on the crane at itsupper part, the stay 3Bv being definitely held thereon bymeans of-a binding nut 4!, as shown.

The construction ofthe boxing of the interceptor device may include any suitable framing i2 soas to afford clear openings at. the outer and inner sides 43] and 44 of the box wl iere the beam and reflected-beamtmay pass, and includi-ng clear glass enclosures and 41 mounted replaceably, while the-top and bottom of the'box may be formed of sheetmetal brother opaque material, and -the hypothehusesidddfthe box may also in clude an opaque sheet metal wan; At the outer side 43 0f the boxg 'toward the lamp 20, and at the'inner side 44 toward thedoor opening It, as wellas around the hypothen-use side thereof, suitable-means may be p'rovided as at 46, for removably holding the mirror, and suitable closure glass at'the "side-14 3 as wellas a lens plate or other light=transmitting glass of the like 41 at the side M. In the present instance, clear glass is used at the side '43 where thein'cid ent beam of the lamp 2li'passes' inwardly to the mirror,

' but at the inner side 44 offthebo-x where the reflected beam passes outward'ly'from the mirror, I use either fia she et of'horizontally ribbed glass, so that thelight passing'therethrough will .be refracted upwardly and downwardly,- or'I may use a lens plate-substantially as shown in Figurev 10, with prismatic elements 48je itending transversely thereon and having reira'ctiyje surfaces of diminishing angle progressivelyjfrom the up per part toward the lowerpart of the ,lens, with respect to the horizont 1; so that the upper portion'of the reflected beam from the mirror is directed upwardly,-while the lower reflected rays are directed upwardly at'an acute angle and any ime a is the mirror 33 approximately and will reach the rear wall '13 in a somewhat broadened form, the zone v illuminated bein gradually broadened toward the rear of the chamber, as will be readily understood.

f the ceiling surface With'the proper construction of the lens, the 'major'portion oi the refracted beams will all be located above 3'aline in the neighborhood of' six feet above thefioor I I, so that it will not be projected into the eyes of persons moving about within the chamber and facing toward the door opening It, In order to eifect a good illumination of the floor and materials stacked thereon, the ceiling surface and the surface of the rear wall l3 are preferably coated with a light-reflective material, substantially as indi cated at 50, in Figure 4 and by forming the surfaces of the ceiling and ture, this light will be reflected in ail directions within the chamber," so as to illumination of the floorvand all materials theree eliminating any blinding effects or eye-strain, or interference with normal vision of persons with-.- inthechamben' i j' In practice, the roof portion Ofth'e chamber being constructed of therefore having more orlessrough surface, it

has been foundthatpainting the zone 50 on the surfaces of the chamber with a good quality of white paint produces the light spreading and diffusing effect, with high' efficiency, ordinarily "a matte surface paint beingutilized.

As the light projected upwardlyi-rom the interceptor lens 48, from a given area: of the lens at its upper part will 'rnination cf the surface of the ceiling of the chamber upon which' it falls than light from a similar area at the lower part of the lens will produce uponthe surfaces at the rear part of the chamber, there will result fa uniforn'r illumination" of'lthe chamber throughout .its' length,jalthough the reflectivefsurfaceis les at theforward or. outer end of the chamber .than atits rcarpart. Also, thelight engaging the walls 13 will be, reflectedback to the forward end of the chamber, adding to the illumination therein;

With the car [9 "light from the lamp 23 will passdownwardly in ward through'theopenin'gof the door of the car, "as indicated by the dotted arrow in"Figl1I' e fl',

walls of a suitabletexafford, a satisfactoryif produce a more brilliant illuon without causing objectionable glare," and i concrete: ordinarily, and H t mat'ely fourteen inchesfsguare, the hypo-thenuse e0 7 located as shown in Figure 1, H it may beseen thata certain amount oi stray tending to illuminate the' far end of the car, as I indicated at El. Tojfurther augment the illum'i furthest from the required to properly" through, the box 24-." As a afterthe lamp 20 has interceptor 52,- consisting *of a simple reflector,

which may 'be'either' a mirror or a mat white surface or aluminum painted reflector, setup beyond the door' opening I 6", adjacent the side v 7 lamp Z mandarrang'ed at such angleas to reflect incidentlight through the side at its-doorway, as indicated at 53. "In order to distributesuch refracted light from the lamp Zllwithin the car [9 to better advantage, Ithaveprovided a third reflector device 54, which may be set up in'thelcar tointercept either the light 5lor the light 53, and to throw it into corners'or suchuother parts of thecar. asm'ay be found f desirable.

adapted to be re'moved when notneed'ed, and the reflector 54 may also beset upon asuitablebase on the floor oftheycarylQ-in such position as v direct the light thrown through the door ofthe car by my lamp and IGfiBCtOIBZ. lnthis way; it is made practicable to illuminate the interior of the car by night with an externally located light source, without involving illumination of adjacent areas objectionably,or in such manner as to be conspicuougin an airplane or the lil e-; and with the same safety that is obtained in. illuminating the interior of the igloo, with the further advantage that a single source of light may be, utilized for mostpurposes, obtaining all "the advantagesof apowerful any wiring," or'the lamp, itself or other electrical conductors within such distance of the opening electric light without requiring the location of tothe igloo or'thev car as to involve any risk from short circuits in the electric devices, heat from the la p, or otherwiseinvolved by the na- I ture of the light souree.

aswell as an electricflampfat 20, but'I have thus far used only an electric lamp, a 400 watt bulb being installed therein with suitable reflector and focusing lens devices'to project a beam of the character desired, so' t hatthe major portion of the light emitted bythe lampwillbe projected ctually embodied, the

second interceptor E'zZZ'consists' of the door 'a'j-su'itable" surface painted upon its inner side, and been suitably located, the desirable angle fior the door to throw incident lightfinto the car is may "be" insured by locating a door stop at aprop'er position for the purpose.

' Witha lamp of the'power' indicated, it has been.

found sati'sfactofy to form the interceptor box at 24 with openings at its sides-43 and approxiside 31 being in proportion.

In case there is tound need for special illuminatiOlflfOff corners of the chamber I 8 at each side of the opening [6, this may be attained by setting up a' portable'reflector on asuitable stand so asto intercept a portionof the light from the upper I bottom,"a single angle being utilized at the junc .tion' of the sidesAB and MLand the bracket 36 being secured to :the two @top, members of these frames'as indicated in" Figure 9. The clear glass V the lamp '26; without requiring additional light "Therefiector 52 may beset upona high ortable standof light construction,

n with .t

fliis secured to therouter side of the trameat- 43, by means of a 2 channel piece 46" held by small screws to the angleironof theframe. The lamps l'lmaybe secured-in, asimi-larmannenrthe glass of these plates being -made sufficiently larger than the fourteen inch openings to. be-isuitably held, usualgasket material to protect the glass from-shock may be.interposed between the mounting means and the glass, as will, be readily understood. "'flhiirsl leet steel 51 out, to

proper shapgmaybe welded todiagonal connecting pieces-59between therectangul-ar frames, and triangular. shaped sheet. steel ,pieces Ell may be similarly welded upon the top of the boxing, to forms, cmplete closure; The diagonal pieces 56 may be secured 1 detach'alcfly to the rectangular frames by means of screws 6 I, and themirror 3.8 is lsecuredto the inner .sides. of these diagonal members substantially in the same .manner that the glass'and lens. -41aremounted. Suitable vertical members 82 maybe connected between the diagonal members of the hypothenuse career the boxing to afford suflic'ient rigidity, these being located between the diagonal .mernbers outwardlyof the mirror. Replacement ofthe-mirror may be effected by removal of the screws M, as will be readily understood, in \orderto permit -access to the fa stenings. that ,directly hold the mirror in place; T I-n the useof this invention, thelamp device will prefer'ablyibe moimted-detachably, so that no conspicuous device will be visible'when the invention is not in use. In order .to utilize the invention, the lamp device is mounted and suitable connections made in the conventionalmannerj, utilizing ordinary electric conduits and .fittings terminating at an outlet spaced from the chamber and thelcham-ber openings to the desired distance as'beforementioned. .The door I'll being opened, the interceptor-unit 2.4 and mounting being installed .and drawn inwardly, -.within the chamber previously, the craneelement maybe swung from its innermost position to position as illustrated in-Figure after loosening of. the hand screws -29. In order to check the crane asaa-soi able clamping means;8l..i ,mounted in the aligned to; th nf the igloo; At theouter end of the interceptor 24 a. lug-18 is fixed, suitably apertured at its upper end for a purpose as will appear. A 19 is pivoted at one end to an upper portion oi the fiange 11 of the suspension arm, as indicated by the reference" character 80. The link Ki of a length to extend outwardly beyond the! lug l8 and lie flatlythereagainst so as to present a longitudinally disposed slot in alignment with the aperture. of the lug 18. A suitaperture and slot so as. to maintain the interceptor 24 in an adjustedposition. In the present instance, the clampingmeanscomprises athread ed shankof a size topass throughthe aperture and slot and respective lock nuts in clamping engagement upon respective sides of the lugand when it has reached a proper outer limit of its movement, a threaded. stud or pin is engaged slidabl-y through the upper part of the crane adjacent the termination of the stem portion 39, this pinbeing threaded on each side of the crane and provided with nuts =66 by which the. pin may be adjusted longitudinally to determine its extent of projection toward the wall 15 0f the chamber, sothat it will act as a stop to limitv the outward movement oi the crane at the proper position. The'endof the 13 1-1165; may befitted witha rubber cap 6-1, so as to avoid liability of spark when the stop engages the wall. v

In the portable form of the interceptor as shown in Figures 11, 12 and 13, the construction of the interceptor remains. the same as previously described, and only the means of mounting the apparatus on the wall of the igloo is changed. In the portable form, a mounting plate .10 islpermanently fixed upon the, wall. .ll of the igloo,

link. A handle portion-82=f0rmed integrally with the shank facilitates rotation thereof to effect tightening or loosening of the lock nuts. Adjustment of the interceptor may be effected as previously explained. I In Figure 14.- there is illustrated-1 a. portable mounting for the lighting fixture, and as. shown consists of albase mounting plate 83 which is constructed for permanent mounting upon the exterior surface of the wall 84 of the igloo. The mounting plate includes a loop bracket 85 adapted to receive a tongue 88 of a suspension arm 81-. It will be noted thatv the tongue 8.8 and arm 8'! lie in parallel relation and. that the tongue en ters; the bracket '85 from above so that the weight of the fixture will draw the tongue downwardly into the bracket in snug relation. so as. to afiord a stable supportof a lighting fixture.

Adjacent thelower end of the arm '87 there is provided a length of tubing 88 extended outwardly' atrright angles to the arm and receives telescopically thereonJa slip. fittingsfifl of a lamp ,unit 9'8. It will beapparent that the lamp unit ddmay be adjustedlongi'tudinally along the tubingfasiwell' as rotated thereabout for the purpose of obtaining proper-placement thereof, in order to direct light rays to the interceptor. A set screw 9! isthreadedly engaged in the fitting 89 and may be manipulated to secure adjustment of the lamp -unit.. From the foregoing, it will be seen that the interceptor and the lamp unit may be readily dismantled or removed'from their respective supporting brackets a d likewise applied in brackets of, other igloo structures. v

Attention is now invited to Figures15. and 16 of the drawingswherein a modified form of igloo is shown, which has recently been employed in I certain localities, due to the saving of, steel suitably located for support of the interceptor A l at the'cloorway. -'Upon the plate 18; there is an I open loop bracket 12 adaptedto snugly accomm'odate a tongue 13 rigidly. formed upon asuspension arm 14, the lower end of which is' pivotallyinountedupcn a rooting l5 fixed upon the upper wall'of the 'interceptorihousing, as by bolts- 15 or otherwise. The arm 74in. the present. instance, is substantially L-shaped, the flange]? thereof being extended outwardly at right angles construction thereof. The igloo is round or p0- lygonal inlshape and for this reason, the lighting, problem is somewhat different from that of the first form described. c

The igloo is indicated. by the reference character 92 and embodies an entrance "93 through which the explosives arecarried and since the particular, construction o-f'the igloo is no part of the. present invention, a detailed explanation thereof is not believed essential to, the understanding oi the illumination of the interior thereof. 1

A source of. light,'94 is. suitably mounted exteriorly of the igloo, the'light rays from which are directed to a reflector or mirror 95 suitably mounted at an upper portion of the entrance 93. A panel, of flashed opal glass. is suspended from the ceiling near the center of the igloo and in a path of the lightirays re d'irected by; the reflecthe light from a reflector in vertical direction tor or mirror 95. By constructing the panel 96 from material such as flashed opal glass, not only are some of the light rays transmitted therethrough, but a portion ofthe light rays will be reflected, and by properly adjusting the panel 96 with respect to the reflector or mirror 95, the entire interior of the igloo will be fully illuminated.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, an intercepting refractor device comprising a crane element. means to mount the said crane for horizontal swinging from the inner wall of a chamber and the like, said crane being extended horizontally at its upper part, and then further extended horizontally in a direction at right angles to the first named horizontal part, and a reflector device carried at the extremity of the last named part of the crane, depending therefrom and being set at an angle of substantially 45 degrees to the direction of said terminal part.

only, and whereby a major portion of the refracted light will be thrown upon the ceiling of said chamber, and light reflecting material upon the'ceiling of said chamber.

4. The structure of claim 3, in which said light source is constructed to project a beam to'said interceptor above eye level, and said interceptor device'is constructed to refract the intercepted 'beam in a zone extended upwardly from eye level, only. I

5. A storage chamber and illuminating means therefor comprising a chamber body having an access opening at one side, a. reflecting means at said access opening located at an upper portion thereof, a light transmitting and reflecting panel suspended within the chamber substantially centrally thereof, said panel consisting of flashed 2. The structure of claim 1, in which a transverse horizontally adjustable wall engaging stop is mounted in said first named horizontal extension.

3. An explosive storage chamber and illuminating means therefor comprising a chamber body havin an access opening at one side, a light source located outside said chamber body at a distance from said opening on a line at right angles to a line normal to the plane of the opening, an intercepting reflector and refractor device adjacent the upper part of said opening constructed to-intercept light from said source and reflect it inwardly through said opening, said opal glass, the panel bei positioned to receive light rays reflected from said reflecting means, and a source of light exteriorly of the chamber positioned to direct light rays upon the reflecting means. 6. A storage chamber and illuminating mean therefor comprising a chamber body having an access'opening at one side, a demountable reflecting means at said access opening, a light transrriitting and reflecting panel within the chamber bodyipositioned to receive light rays reflected "from said reflecting means, and a demountable light source located outside said storage chamber at a distance from said access opening on a line intercepting device beingconstructed to retract at right angles to a line normal to the plane of the access opening and positionedto direct light rays upon the reflecting means.

ALVA B. WINTERS. 

